Students putting light on subject

TV coverage of Fitzgibbon Cup: As well as being the climax to the colleges GAA season, this weekend's Fitzgibbon Cup provides the latest experiment in hurling matches being played under floodlights.

Saturday's final at Páirc Uí Rinn, although not played in its entirety under lights, will be the first such match to be televised live, and the success of that broadcast is likely to influence the staging of floodlight hurling matches on a more regular basis.

The game has a 5.0pm throw-in, which means the floodlights will come into effect only for the second half, but it still represents TG4's first foray into live coverage of hurling played outside daylight hours.

History was made two years ago when the Allianz National Hurling League match between Cork and Wexford was also played under the lights at Páirc Uí Rinn. TG4, however, only had a single camera at that game for a later highlights package, and while that game has remained an exception, there is a growing desire for more hurling matches to be played under floodlights for the purposes of live television coverage.

"We're pretty confident it will work," says Rónán Ó Coisdealbha of TG4 sport. "Technically it's exactly the same set-up as a football match, so there's no need to bring in any extra lighting. Obviously it's a much faster game with hurling but that shouldn't be an issue either, as long as the floodlights are of the correct standard.

"The only other time we did cover hurling under floodlights was with the single camera, but live coverage shouldn't be any different. And I think in the long term we will see more of this. This year we have six live games under floodlights but none of those are in hurling, but that will definitely change as more and more grounds start to install floodlights."

Currently only three county grounds have floodlights of the necessary standard - Parnell Park in Dublin, Austin Stack Park in Tralee and Páirc Uí Rinn. The GAA last year released funding so that each province will have two floodlight venues, and Pearse Stadium in Galway will be among those to have floodlights for next year's league.

"Even when Galway does have floodlights, agreement will still need to be reached between the two counties," added Ó Coisdealbha. "It more or less comes down to who is willing to play under lights, and that usually involves prior agreement between the two counties, who then submit their request when the fixtures are being finalised."

That's been one of the problems with playing hurling matches in Páirc Uí Rinn. While Cork train there regularly and are used to the lights, some teams felt they would be conceding an advantage if they agreed to play there. Wexford were well beaten two years ago and no intercounty matches have been staged there since.

With Setanta getting their foot into live coverage of the league the GAA has been eager to expand their floodlight options, especially to provide coverage on Friday and Saturday nights.

Practically all county teams now regularly train and have practice matches under floodlights but, unlike football, the crossover to the competitive end has been slower.

Yet UCC, who host the Fitzgibbon Cup this weekend, had no problem seeking approval for Saturday's final to be at least partly played under floodlights: "Almost all the college teams would play most of the practice matches and also train under floodlights," said Traolach Martin of the UCC organising committee. "So I don't think it will be an issue for any of the teams competing here, and definitely not UCC."

The Fitzgibbon Cup begins under normal hours with Friday's semi-finals, as UCD play UCC (12.30) and NUI Galway play Waterford IT (2.30), with both games set for the Mardyke.